I am a longtime fan of Spanish artist and designer Ana Montiel. She has a dreamy eye for colour and exquisite use of pattern. When visiting Art Hound yesterday, I was reminded of Ana’s many talents and upon taking a closer look at her portfolio, fell in love with the Faux Crystals drawing series. A beautiful vision of the intricate details and texture in crystals as well as their many vibrant hues. I wouldn’t mind one (or seven) of these prints for my walls!

I spotted a painting by Santiago Salvador on design for mankind and was instantly smitten. I had to find out more about this intriguing artist. Upon my arrival at Santiago’s Flickr page, I think my head exploded with hue happiness. Holy sublime use of colour and pattern! Santiago has many handsome pieces but it is the collections of vibrant people that I am in love with. I would love to hang that gradient of blue people on my wall. I can’t seem to find much information on Santiago but I’m hoping to dig around and learn more. His fantastic eye for pattern, unique style and exquisite use of a hues makes Santiago one colourful and intriguing artist to watch…

(photographs via santiago salvador)

I spotted this fantastic Birds of Australia print by Amy Borrell of Cake With Giants on Creature Comforts yesterday and fell in love. In fact, I nicknamed the birds ‘dapper flappers’ and couldn’t stop imagining the birds around Vancouver sporting similar vibrant accessories. If only the sky was full of such stylish feathered creatures!

(found via creature comforts; photography via cake with giants where you can buy the print)

I’ve seen a lot of really creative paper promotions but never one this beautiful or frame worthy! A piece by GF Smith, the aim was to showcase the company’s range of digital papers while highlighting the incredible technological potential of modern digital presses. Digital artists FIELD were hired to create 10,000 unique and colourful illustrations inspired by the micro details of paper fibres. One of the most exciting facets of digital print technology is that is allows for personalization of a print job. ‘Variable imaging’ allows “unique prints to be produced from an established document framework”. It is quite a technical affair that you can read about in detail in this september industry feature. Overall, the printing of this piece is a work of art. A unique illustration for every single promotional folder and inside paper – how spectacular is that? Gorgeous illustrations, handsome graphic design and one great display of innovation.

(photographs via september industry)

I know “don’t judge a book by its cover” is appropriate in most situations but sometimes a book design is so beautiful, I could buy it without one care about its content. Luckily, Amazing Face by Zoe Foster looks chalk full of interesting beauty information on top of its good looks. I am in love with the look of this book by Penguin designer Allison Colpoys. Rather than rely on obvious beauty photographs, the book features gorgeous illustrations, vivid colours and a real feeling of makeup as art. I have only been able to find these four spreads of the book but I am giddy about seeing the rest. A brilliantly beautiful cover and unique take on the topic. Did I mention how much I love the detail of green and pink ribbons to use as bookmarks? I am certain I will look more attractive after buying Amazing Face simply because I will be holding it!

(images via the design files where there is a great interview with designer Allison Colpoys)

I came across the work of illustrator Jean-sébastien Deheeger on Threadless and quickly became a fan of his humourous and colourful work. That bee and bear print has made me laughing all day. I think it is the tiny wings? And don’t even get me started on the sheep waiting by the washing machine… I see potential for a hugely successful book series here! I know I’d buy the whole set.

(images via threadless where many of the illustrations are available on t-shirts)

Designer Jay Fleck illustrates in a modern way that somehow manages to retain a vintage soul. I love his resulting graphic style and bold use of primary colour. And what a clever typographical take on “plenty of fish in the sea”! To see more of Jay’s brilliant work and where you can buy t-shirts or prints, check out his Flickr page.

I’ve always loved Picasso’s portrait of his adored dachshund, Lump. Picasso loved animals and his work is rich with depictions of them. In contrast to his usual beautifully complex style, I love Picasso’s animal drawings for their simplicity and minimalism. There is even a book devoted to the artist and his best friend – Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund’s Odyssey. I love this drawing and that so many of Picasso’s pieces have his dachshund as a muse but most of all, I love that a dog named Lump became an icon in modern art!

(image via art prints gallery)

Sometimes something so delightfully random and creative comes along that proves just how insanely awesome the Internet is. The Cosby Sweater Project is a site dedicated to cataloging and illustrating the crazy and colourful sweaters won on The Cosby Show. I love the fantastic interpretations of those patterns. Whomever is behind this site: I officially love you. (p.s. when I started this week, I had no idea there would be two Cliff Huxtable references by week end. You never know what a week will bring…)

Olly Moss is a British designer and illustrator who you can add to my ‘obsessed with’ list. He has an obvious abundance of creative chops but it is his cleverness that never ceases to amaze me (case in point, his sea-saw illustration I posted about a couple of months ago). Olly just opened a solo show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles called ‘Paper Cuts’. The exhibit features over 350 laser-cut and hand-finished silhouettes of pop culture icons from the cast of Saved by the Bell or Seinfeld to animated Disney classics to Cliff Huxtable in one of his crazy sweaters. I love the juxtaposition of historical cameos with modern pop culture. A brilliant concept, six months of exquisitely detailed paper work and fantastic styling in vintage frames all add up to a spectacular show the is overflowing with Olly’s talent and cleverness.

(photographs via olly moss, the fox is black, hi fructose, jawilmesjr & flixist)

There are many reasons I love iconic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass. He was ridiculously talented in so many areas of design and I hope to feature more of his legendary projects in the future. At the moment, I am semi-obsessed with Saul’s 1962 children’s book called “Henri’s Walk to Paris” about a young boy’s adventures in the City of Light. I have attempted to buy this gorgeous book for years but it is a difficult and expensive hunt. A recent bidding frenzy on Ebay ended at almost $500. While remaining hopeful that it is published again one day, I continue to just stare at the images of the book pages. What a showcase of fantastic 1960′s design/illustration, whimsical typography and spectacular use of vivid colour. That simple drawing of hats as the zoo crowd? I love it. Back to Ebay I go…

(photographs via grain edit; view more pages of the book on the grain edit blog)

The more I stare at this typography by Canadian designer Jan Avendano, the more I fall madly in love with it. The use of colour, layers of pattern and transparent details are mesmerizing. Jan’s website notes that these pieces are a “type experimentation” but I have my fingers firmly crossed that they become a series of posters if not an entire typeface! I will be first in line to buy a print of this gorgeous work…

If you are finding tax filing preparations and deadlines a bit stressful, keep this paper illustration by Owen Gildersleeve in mind. There is life and colour on the other side!

(photograph via owen gildersleeve)

I have always loved designer David Klein’s iconic posters for airline TWA. Created in the 1950′s, the illustrations are gorgeous depictions of travel destinations. It would be great to see modern airlines return to advertising that motivates one to travel rather than photos of aircrafts and details of bargain deals. From the star-filled city of Los Angeles to the romantic layers of a Spanish flamenco dress, David perfectly captures the essence of colour-filled travel spots. I don’t think I have ever seen an illustration of New York that I love more!

(images via flavorwire)

I love the idea that a bee and a ladybug would passionately argue over who has a better graphic pattern. Another fantastic illustration in Lim Heng Swee’s Doodle Everyday project. (I previously posted about his whimsical clouds doodle.)

(image via doodle everyday)

British talent Rob Ryan is one of my very favourite artists. What he creates out of paper, meticulously cutting intricate shapes, is truly phenomenal. On top of all that creativity, Rob has an amazing gift for beautifully poetic words. I plan to feature Rob Ryan in a future post devoted to his work but I couldn’t resist sharing his Royal Wedding commemorative plate design for William and Kate’s big day. What a welcome change from the wedding-cliche riddled commemorative designs I have seen around. I love how the traditional British lion and unicorn fuse seamlessly with Rob’s whimsical design and trademark birds/flowers. The gorgeous blue, white and gold accents are elegant, modern and so very British. As always, I particularly love Rob’s words as they are a perfect reminder of what all the hoopla should really boil down to at the end of the day:

“The Crown and the Throne and the lions and the unicorns & the bowing & scraping and all the Palaces and the privileges are worth nothing if you will not spend every day of your life with me until I die. April 29th 2011″

(black version available at Rob Ryan’s etsy store)